Abstract
BackgroundThe health care-seeking behaviour among Somali women is different from Swedish women’s behaviour, and this may have consequences for birth giving. The aim of the study was to identify and describe Somali women’s lived experience of birth giving in Sweden.MethodsQualitative individual interviews were conducted in Swedish with seven Somali women. The sample was purposeful, and the snowball sampling method was used. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.ResultsFour themes emerged during the analysis which revealed the Somali women’s lived experiences of giving birth in Sweden. a) Being recognised and confirmed as a woman. Somali women consider it important to be confirmed as a woman by the surrounding and professionals during pregnancy and birth giving. b) Communication is important for the women’s independence. There is a need to provide a structure for how this information is given and adaptation regarding content and format .c) Something naturally becomes unknown and complicated. Somali women come from a different culture, which affects their lived experiences of pregnancy and birth giving. There is a need for improved and clearer information for these Somali women regarding pregnancy and birth giving in another culture- the Swedish context d) Professional and competent taking care of. The women appreciate if they are treated with competency and professionalism; they do not want to be discriminated. The women feel confidence in health care when they meet competent and professional health care professionals.ConclusionsThe findings in the study indicate that reproductive health care for Somali women should be improved with regard to cultural differences and lived experiences, as this affects their experience of pregnancy and childbirth in Sweden. There is a need for both knowledge and understanding in order to provide good quality care for these Somali women, especially those who have been genitally mutilated.
Highlights
The health care-seeking behaviour among Somali women is different from Swedish women’s behaviour, and this may have consequences for birth giving
Our findings show that genital mutilation affects the Somali women regarding pregnancy and birth giving
There is a need for both knowledge and understanding in order to provide good quality care for these Somali women
Summary
The health care-seeking behaviour among Somali women is different from Swedish women’s behaviour, and this may have consequences for birth giving. The aim of the study was to identify and describe Somali women’s lived experience of birth giving in Sweden. Global statistics on migration show that there were 244 million international migrants in 2015, which is about 3.3% of the global population Out of these millions of international immigrants 48% were women [1]. The health care seeking behaviour of Somali women differs from that of Swedish women and that may have consequences for the pregnancy [4]. There is knowledge about measured aspects of pregnancy and maternity care, but knowledge is sparse regarding the Somali women’s’ own experiences of birth giving in a Swedish context
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